At its Worldwide Developer Conference on Monday, Apple seemed to make nice with the world's most popular digital currency, hinting that it may allow bitcoin wallet apps back onto the iPhone and the iPad, and several outfits say they plan on resubmitting their apps for inclusion in the Apple App Store, the gatekeeper for all iOS software. But others are so unhappy with the way Apple banned the digital currency earlier this year, they've resolved to avoid Apple hardware entirely.

The fact of the matter is that if bitcoin is going to have any shot at replacing cash or credit cards, we'll need wallet apps on smartphones. That's how people use bitcoin to pay for lattes in coffee shops or settle fares in taxi cabs. These apps are widely available on Android phones, and at one point, many were available in the Apple App Store too, including wallets from startups Coinbase and Blockchain. But over the past year, Apple made an unexplained decision to remove such apps from the Store.